Japanese Forestation Policies During the 20 Years Following World War II

During World War II, the area cut annually in Japan exceeded the area planted, and cutover land was common. Within approximately 10 years of the end of the war, however, forestation on cutover land was almost complete. In the 10 years that followed, forestation policies targeted increasing coniferous tree plantations to secure industrial roundwood. Forestation plans and legal systems were developed, and organizations such as the Prefectural Forestry Corporations and Forest Development Corporation were founded to promote the planting of coniferous trees. As a result, approximately 10 million ha of coniferous plantations now exist, roughly 40% of the total forested area, and the area has a growing stock of 3.0 billion m3. However, some problems resulted from forestation policies. As coniferous trees were planted intensively over a short period of time, the forest age structures became unequal. Many forests have now reached an age class that requires thinning, but the percentage of forests that have been thinned remains insufficient. In addition, all Prefectural Forestry Corporations are now facing serious financial difficulties. Statistics on plantation forests must be improved to create effective management plans, including new reforestation policies

Current Status of and Problems with the Forest Inheritance Tax in Japan

The number of aged forest owners is increasing as Japanese society ages and the number of inheritances involving forest is increasing. The current forest inheritance policies, including the inheritance tax, were introduced after World War II and the entire inheritance system urgently needs improving. Although tax-reduction policies have decreased the forest inheritance tax, private forest owners are facing a greatly decreased domestic timber market and low stumpage prices. The number of non-resident and non-farmer forest owners is increasing, and the traditional farm family-based forestry system is facing a crisis. As the population of Japan decreases, especially in rural areas, the forest inheritance tax must be reconsidered so that non-resident and non-farmer forest owners who have little knowledge of forest management will sell their forests to new owners who are interested in forest management, such as current resident forest owners and forestry companies. Although the 2014 measure that postpones payment of the forest inheritance tax is an important way to support sustainable forest management, especially by large-scale forest owners, the targeted individuals who obtain the advantage must be reconsidered

Legal and Administrative Aspects of Forest Pest and Disease Control in Japan

Approximately 40% of Japanese forests are softwood plantations consisting of trees such as Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), and several varieties of pine (Pinus spp.). Policies and programs related to forest pests and diseases are important for growing forest plantations. Damage caused by the pine bark beetle (Monochamus alternatus) has been a long-standing problem in Japan. Forest damage caused by the pine bark beetle was first found in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1905. Since then, the area of damage has expanded gradually to all prefectures. Damage caused by pine bark beetles became serious during and just after the end of the Second World War. In 1950, the Natural Resource Section of the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP) made recommendations for how to control forest pests and diseases. The first act was enacted in 1950, although the control of forest pests was initially addressed as part of the first Forest Act of 1897. Several important reasons for why the Japanese government has failed to stop the expansion of the damaged area can be found in GHQ recommendations: the lack of coordinated programs, underutilization of damaged trees, and shortcomings of forest-management plans

Properties of concrete using crushed stone powder with various specific surface areas

Many countries use crushed stone and crushed sand as the aggregate for concrete. However, a large amount of crushed stone powder is produced as by-products in the manufacturing process. Unless effective utilization of crushed stone powder is considered, it is not a sufficient measure in terms of sustainability. In this study, the properties of concrete using crushed stone powders with different specific surface areas are investigated. As the results, a strong correlation was found between the unit water content of concrete and the total surface area of the crushed stone powder contained in the concrete. Furthermore, it was concluded that the correlation between the strength index, the CO2 index, and the virgin resource index of concrete using crushed stone powder depends on the types of crushed stone powder and crushed sand

Growth Plate Borderline Chondrocytes Behave as Transient Mesenchymal Precursor Cells

The growth plate provides a substantial source of mesenchymal cells in the endosteal marrow space during endochondral ossification. The current model postulates that a group of chondrocytes in the hypertrophic zone can escape from apoptosis and transform into cells that eventually become osteoblasts in an area beneath the growth plate. The growth plate is composed of cells with various morphologies; particularly at the periphery of the growth plate immediately adjacent to the perichondrium are “borderline” chondrocytes, which align perpendicularly to other chondrocytes. However, in vivo cell fates of these special chondrocytes have not been revealed. Here we show that borderline chondrocytes in growth plates behave as transient mesenchymal precursor cells for osteoblasts and marrow stromal cells. A single‐cell RNA‐seq analysis revealed subpopulations of Col2a1‐creER‐marked neonatal chondrocytes and their cell type–specific markers. A tamoxifen pulse to Pthrp‐creER mice in the neonatal stage (before the resting zone was formed) preferentially marked borderline chondrocytes. Following the chase, these cells marched into the nascent marrow space, expanded in the metaphyseal marrow, and became Col(2.3 kb)‐GFP+ osteoblasts and Cxcl12‐GFPhigh reticular stromal “CAR” cells. Interestingly, these borderline chondrocyte‐derived marrow cells were short‐lived, as they were significantly reduced during adulthood. These findings demonstrate based on in vivo lineage‐tracing experiments that borderline chondrocytes in the peripheral growth plate are a particularly important route for producing osteoblasts and marrow stromal cells in growing murine endochondral bones. A special microenvironment neighboring the osteogenic perichondrium might endow these chondrocytes with an enhanced potential to differentiate into marrow mesenchymal cells. © 2019 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/1/jbmr3719_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/2/jbmr3719-sup-0001-Suppl_Info_JBMR_021819.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/3/jbmr3719.pd

New Large Bowel Segmentation on Plain Abdominal Radiography in Comparison with the Conventional Method

Plain abdominal radiography is a very basic examination and plays an important role in primary care. The objectives of this study were to clarify colon distributions on plain abdominal radiographs. Forty-three healthy volunteers underwent gastric fluoroscopy, and 2 hours later, plain abdominal radiography in the supine position. A region of interest (ROI) was defined uniformly on each X-ray image to divide the image into 600 zones. The area corresponding to the large bowel within the ROI was divided into 4 segments (ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, and sigmoid colon＋rectum). The percentage of barium in each segment relative to the total volume of barium used was calculated to evaluate the percent ROI occupancy. The large bowel covered 76.7% of the entire ROI, with the percent duplication being 55%. The duplicated area corresponded to the transverse colon region. When the method proposed by Arhan et al. was used, the percentage of the colon actually present in each segment relative to that determined theoretically was 99.6% for the right colon segment, 92.2% for the left colon segment, and 92.2% for the sigmoid/rectal segment. However, in cases in which the transverse colon descended partially from the fifth lumbar vertebra, the percentage occupied by the sigmoid colon＋rectum decreased to 57.2%. We applied a new large bowel segmentation method especially for patients with ptosis, by devising a line joining the lateral side of the right lesser pelvis and the lower ends of both sacroiliac joints

A study on thermal performance of heat storage system connected with heat pump for residential houses

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a heating system with thermal storage using a heat pump which supplies heat to the thermal storage equipment installed in the crawl space of residential house insulated at the foundation walls. This system can charge heat by using cheap nighttime electricity and discharge the stored heat at daytime. The thermal performance of the heating system and the effects of various factors on it are analyzed through simulation on the premise that a heat pump which has generally spread is used. The main results are as follows